Imperial College London
Alternate

Miss Katherine J Williams

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery & Cancer

Honorary Clinical Research Fellow
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 3311 7335k.williams Website

 
 
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Location

 

4N13CNorth WingCharing Cross Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Ravikumar:2018:10.1177/0268355517710130,
author = {Ravikumar, R and Williams, KJ and Babber, A and Moore, HM and Lane, T and Shalhoub, J and Davies, AH},
doi = {10.1177/0268355517710130},
journal = {Phlebology},
pages = {367--378},
title = {Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE)},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0268355517710130},
volume = {33},
year = {2018}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - ObjectiveVenous thromboembolism (VTE), encompassing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, affecting 1 in 1000 adults per year. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is the transcutaneous application of electrical impulses to elicit muscle contraction, preventing venous stasis. This review aims to investigate the evidence underlying the use of NMES in thromboprophylaxis.MethodsThe Medline and Embase databases were systematically searched, adhering to PRISMA guidelines, for articles relating to electrical stimulation and thromboprophylaxis. Articles were screened according to a priori inclusion and exclusion criteria.ResultsThe search strategy identified 10 randomised controlled trials, which were used in three separate meta-analyses; 5 trials compared NMES to control, favouring NMES (odds ratio (OR) of DVT 0.29, 95%CI 0.13-0.65; P=.003); 3 trials compared NMES to heparin, favouring heparin (OR of DVT 2.00, 95%CI 1.13-3.52; P=.02); 3 trials compared NMES as an adjunct to heparin versus heparin only, demonstrating no significant difference (OR of DVT 0.33, 95%CI 0.10-1.14; P=.08).ConclusionNMES significantly reduces the risk of deep vein thrombosis compared to no prophylaxis. It is inferior to heparin in preventing DVT and there is no evidence for its use as an adjunct to heparin.
AU  - Ravikumar,R
AU  - Williams,KJ
AU  - Babber,A
AU  - Moore,HM
AU  - Lane,T
AU  - Shalhoub,J
AU  - Davies,AH
DO  - 10.1177/0268355517710130
EP  - 378
PY  - 2018///
SN  - 0268-3555
SP  - 367
TI  - Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE)
T2  - Phlebology
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0268355517710130
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/45381
VL  - 33
ER  -
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